Wimbledon men's final ticket prices could beat record £12,000 as Murray mania mounts

Record-breaking ticket prices are expected for the Wimbledon men's singles final between battling Brit Andy Murray and Swiss ace Roger Federer on Sunday.

With Murray the first British man to reach the last day of the prestigious competition since 'Bunny' Austin did so in 1938, the record £12,000 paid for one seat is expected to be under threat.

On ebay this morning a pair of debenture
restaurant tickets could be snapped up immediately for £25,000, though
the starting bid was a more modest £5,000.

And searching on Twitter, this reporter
quickly found someone offering a pair of Centre Court tickets on Sunday
for £24,000 - £12,000 each.

Andy Murray will now face tennis legend Roger Federer in tomorrow's final

Tickets being sold on websites such as
Viagogo are already said to have fetched £4,000, and prices upwards of
£13,000 each are not thought to be unrealistic.

Royal and celebrity spectators will be expected - although it is thought that
neither the Queen nor the Duke of Cambridge will be able to attend due
to prior commitments, the Duchess of Cambridge will be there.

And in the royal box yesterday was the one-time queen of pop Kylie Minogue, though it's not known if she will be back.

Australian tennis legend Rod Laver was
also there, and Andre Agassi and wife Steffi Graf watched Murray's
quarterfinal on Wednesday.

Federer is favourite to win with
bookies. William Hill has him at 8/15 on, and Murray 13/8. Ladbrokes
currently has him at 9/4 to win in three sets, while punters can get 7/1
for a three set victory for Murray.

Final hurdle: Six-times champion Roger Federer lies in wait in the final

Plenty of bets have been placed on the
young Scot, however. William Hill has previously said tomorrow will be the biggest tennis match in its 78-year history and a win by Murray will prompt a multi-million pound payout.

Spokesman Rupert Adams added: 'If he lifts the trophy we will probably have the worst day of tennis betting in our long history, with a probable industry payout of £5million.'

The BBC expects more than 12 million people to
tune in to watch the match. If Andy Murray succeeds he will be the first
Wimbledon men's singles champion from these isles since Fred Perry lifted the prize in
1936.

Virgin entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson was among many famous names to tweet their thoughts on the Scot's four-set semi-final success against Frenchman Tsonga: 'Congrats Andy Murray! Good to see a British player in the #wimbledon final, my Scottish wife will be happy!!'

Mr Newlife died in 2009, aged 59, bequeathing his entire estate - including the bet - to Oxfam.

The charity estimates around 12 per cent of its income is from legacies.

William Hill spokesman Rupert Adams said: 'Mr Newlife showed the most astounding foresight placing this bet almost 10 years ago and that the fact that Oxfam will benefit if his prediction proves correct just adds to the fantasy nature of this wager.

'This will be one of the very rare occasions that we will payout with a smile on our face.

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Wimbledon men's final ticket prices could beat record as Murray mania mounts